By now, all 50 U.S. states as well as territories have been allocated federal funding in the form of the CARES Act, signed into law back in March in order to help American citizens, businesses, institutions, and local agencies recover from COVID-19 related struggles. The chunk of this $2 trillion bill that is dedicated to helping local government agencies, tribal government agencies, and colleges and universities is referred to as the Coronavirus Relief Fund.

If you are like me, you are more than just a bit off balance with all that is going on in the world. At the end of 2019, things were moving along at a nice clip and we were all excited about the prospect of a robust 2020 -- and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit with a ferocity that we had never seen or could have even imagined. Then, we all saw the senseless murder of George Floyd and other Black civilians replayed over and over across media outlets. As a result, the world exploded into a chaos that is at once compelling and traumatizing, one which many of us still have trouble processing. The issue of race relations and racial injustice symbolized by the Black Lives Matter protests have put issues we have historically been ill-equipped to deal with squarely in our sights.

As public sector and higher education organizations plan to send their workforces back to the office post-pandemic, many safety precautions will have to be taken into consideration to mitigate the risk for employees. In particular, conceding that COVID-19 is likely not going away -- at least not completely -- means that organizations may have to step in when local health departments are unable to do so. Automation of these processes can help reduce the danger of disease-spreading while also tracking crucial information that impacts the safety and health of the entire organization. Among the new processes organizations will need to introduce, contact tracing ranks high on the list.

At the current time, our nation has the largest expanse of generations in the workplace than at any other point in time in our history. As a result, the opportunity for misunderstandings and tensions in the workplace is at an all-time high. If we are to achieve the goals we have identified and continue to provide for the well-being of our agencies, it is imperative that we pay close attention to this generational divide. Whether you’re currently working in the office or remotely, there’s a good chance your workforce spans a large range of age groups, and taking stock of that will help your agency succeed regardless of where you’re working from.

Though we are hardly out of the woods yet with regards to COVID-19, employers and employees alike are naturally beginning to think about what work life will look like when non-essential personnel return to offices. In particular, public sector agencies may not have the luxury to remain at home indefinitely – or perhaps they never went home at all – because of the nature of the services they provide to local communities.

A recent report from Gartner found that 82% of HR leaders will be involved in the planning of the return to offices. With a plethora of items to consider to not only maintain productivity but also keep everyone safe, HR must put a plan in place to ensure the return to the office is done judiciously and effectively.

Bearing that in mind, we put together an overview for HR leaders to contemplate as they send employees back into the office.

Sometimes, the easiest enhancements are the most effective. We normally don’t highlight small features aside from our product enhancement release notes, because we are constantly making small changes to improve usability. However, we found it fascinating that this Perform enhancement in particular has had such an impact on the navigability of the product. With a singular focus on facilitating task completion for managers and employees, the Perform team introduced a simple feature that changed productivity: the green button.

Did you know you can create your own content in Learn? It's as easy as uploading a PowerPoint presentation or video and then building a quiz to measure the viewer's retention of the information.

Here are some quick tips to help you create an engaging and meaningful course in no time:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, HR teams using eForms have been safely delivering and routing forms and workflows between employees and managers. eForms already has pre-built processes that are accessible in the product's Global Library and customizable for each organization's needs, while ensuring compliance. eForms customers have found tremendous value in offering these touchless HR processes.

Here are the five most popular processes in eForms that organizations like yours have been using to support their employees safely and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access these processes in the eForms Global Library:

Mental health is something most of us could do a better job of prioritizing, even in the best of situations. During a time like this, it’s absolutely essential. Whether it’s pushing through anxiety or ignoring nagging feelings of discontent, we are conditioned to keep up productivity at any cost. If you’re working from home, you may have found yourself trying to overcompensate by allowing your workday to bleed into your home life. If so, you’re in good company -- a recent SHRM study found that 41% of employees felt burned out amid COVID-19 struggles. 

In today’s working world, the employee experience is in trouble. Employees in the U.S. are up to twice as likely to be disengaged at work.

And this disengagement can cause problems. Gallup finds that organizations whose employees are actively engaged reap substantial rewards (vs. unengaged peers) such as 41% lower absenteeism, between 24 and 59% lower turnover, and 17% higher productivity. Clearly, organizations simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of the employee experience.